Fairfax_Uechi

You're probably right. But one thing that I did see that I liked was that they did allow grabs. One of the "fighters" left a kick out and was grabbed by one of the traditional artists, and wasn't told that he couldn't do it. So that was pretty cool. And this isn't something that many TKD and similar style tournaments allow, if I'm not mistaken. And this is very different than how we train in Uechi, where if someone leaves a punch or kick out, we grab it and then use it to either throw you around, or take you down with it. Frankly, if I was sparring some of the folks on the show, many of them would have had trips to the ground due to hanging kicks out too long!

Thanks for the clearification. I've read a little about Funakoshi, and you're right about the pen name. I didn't realize that he was from Okinawa. But I think you'd agree, that the roots of the arts can sometimes get very confusing at times. For instance, of the 4 major Okaniwan styles, Uechi-Ryu is more like "Kung Fu" than "Karate" as Kanbun Uechi studied an art called Paginoon, which derives from the southern China arts that we typically call "Kung Fu". But this gets a little more grey, as when he left China, he went to mainland Japan, then eventually Okaniwa. So strange as it may be, Uechi-Ryu was taught in Japan before Okaniwa, but since the folks he taught it to were Okaniwan and not Japaneese, the art "remained" Okaniwan. [note: Okaniwan's consider themselves Okaniwan first and now Japaneese, and at one point in time were independent, and at other times were invaded by Japan, China, etc] And if we want things to get even more confusing, much of the informaiton was passed orally with little written history. And then to make it worse, much of the little written documentaiton was destroyed during WWII. So sometimes information gets mangled together, and points changed depending on whose version you get. In any case, I find all of it interesting, and always worth the time to hear a different version!!

Actually, from what I learned there are four main Okinawan styles: Shorin Ryu Goju Ryu Isshin Ryu and Uechi Ryu Some of the other Okinawan styles mentioned are variations of the "big 4", or "minor styles" For those playing at home and interested in a little history Pangai Noon was the original name of the style learned in China by Kanbun Uechi. After his death, his students renamed the style in Okanawa Uechi Ryu in his honer. To further complicate the matter, in the late 1980s/early 1990's several Uechi groups broke off with one using Pangai Noon as the name of their style as Uechi is the family name and the "property" of the syle headed by Kanmei Uechi. Now some of this is slightly simplied, but hopefully it helps. Also as an FYI, Shotokan is mainland Japanese not Okinawa.

Umm, how did you come up with this number, if I may inquire? He'd tell you, but then he'd have to kill you!!!! Seriously, I think he was trying to be funny.

Are you asking if the show would add a BJJ event, or a practictioner? IMHO, If the show added a BJJ event, then it would be pretty sorry. Since some (most??) of the folks on the show aren't that great anyway. If a BJJ individual was on the show, they'd also need some good stand up skills to be competitive in the show's format. But I'm sure they would have a great advantage then as most of hte BJJ folks that I've met who were black belts were pretty well rounded Martial artists.

Yesterday's show was a little better. Jackson, the Ishian-Ryu (sp?) guy was actually pretty decent. He looked pretty good. The scoring was pretty cheap though. He put his kicks out but IMHO, showed great control. The "hard hits" seemed to be great acting, and I'm willing to bet that folks will be doing it more in the future if they are losing. Anyway, I hope he's one of the finalist, and the next set also has someone (or a group of someones) who are decent.

I agree with the others, first how much training do you have? If you have several years of experience you know you should be practicing outside of class anyway, and I think you should keep this up. If you haven't been practicing outside of class then you probably need to. If you're fairly new (a year or two or less), then you might want to consier changing styles. I also agree that if you're experienced you workout with folks from other styles from time to time. One other thought, just don't look for commercial dojos. Search around. Talk to your old instructor and see what he says. He might be able to do some research and help you find someone that teaches out of their garage or health club. You'd be suprised.

If you get FitTV there is a show on called Deadly Arts. The show's host is a French Canadian woman who goes to different countries exploring the marital arts. It's not a great show, but not bad. She does a decent job explaining the history and working out with them. The show's worth watching just for the history. BTW, I don't think her technique is the greatest in the world, but her desire is amazing, and for someone her age, she's in incredible shape (but not much to look at)

Count me in the group for taking a little time off. Miss a few classes or not workout for a week and then return and boy does it show. And nothing is worse than looking bad in class, especially when you have folks are junior to you looking better than you. Or even worse, not being sharp to teach a class. That always kills me and motivates me to train harder.

You want to be really fast? Then GO SLOW! Practice your techniques AS SLOW AS YOU POSSIBLY CAN. Learn to do them PERFECT. The practice them slow until your mind hurt, then do a few sets a little faster, gradually going until it's as fast as you can humanly go. Then keep work your way down to slow motion again. You will accomplish several things by doing this. First you well develop good technique. Next, you will develop the muscle memory that the other posters talked about, finally YOU WILL develop speed. And you'd be suprised how quickly it works.

Dojo and association are our requirements. Many senior students in our dojo also have their names on their Gi's.

I consider titles like colored belts. They're different from style to style and sometimes even from dojo to dojo in a style. In Uechi anyone 4 Dan is a Master. I personally, will just refer to someone as Sensei unless I know otherwise, and if the person is offended then they probably have some serious issues. One thing though, even though someone is called a Master at 5 Dan and above in our style, it's an optional title. I won't call anyone master as I have personal issues with this title. But that's a totally different discusion.

Yes, and if you go from one Uechi dojo to another they're pretty close. Now the exception being that advanced classes will do different exercises than beginners, but they're all things that we've been through.

a better way to find a good dojo is to ask around. Ask here, let folks know what part of Georgia you're from and how far you're willing to go to train. Also let folks know what you think you'd like. Then find 3-4 dojos and check them out. Take a class or two at each, then make a decision.

That is so true. Regular use helps SO MUCH. In my case, I can make great gains when I use it every day. But when I get lazy, and don't use it for several months I lose a great deal of flexibility. Now with that said, a few minutes every day really adds up over several months.

I'm not sure what you're saying. Is it that you've done this technique with 3 boards and just can't do it now, or is the technique different. If you've done it in the past, and can't do it now, I would say that you're trying too hard. So try this. Forget about it today, relax, and visualize doing it well, and keep practicing perfect technique in your mind. Then get a final practice in and it should be a piece of cake since you've trained your mind and body to do it, and it'll be automatic.

As far as the sparring side of things, I feel that showing good control and power is key. I can land techniques that would floor you, but by pulling them an inch from you, they don't harm you. As others have said, the key is that your sparing partner has to understand that you pulled the technique NOT to harm them. And as others have said, if they don't see that you would have harmed them in an actual fight, then you add some zing to the next technique. Luckily for me, I've only had to do this once, and the person I was sparring quickly got the message as he picked himself up off of the floor. (FYI, I never harmed him, just drove through with enough power to floor him)

I have to disagree here. I well placed front kick to the abs can drive someone back pretty bad, or even double them over especially if they're not conditioned. For your average street punk, it can be used to set you up nice for a followup to their face if they only double over.

I agree with with others said, except for one thing. I do believe that things happen for a reason. Since the cop was there, maybe it just wasn't ment for you to go through the hassle of having to justify your defense. Maybe if you would have resisted you would have hurt or killed him, or he might have done something to you or your wife. So it just worked out well. But, you're right, learning a new art, or starting again with one you know would be a good thing. As a Marine you know that you should always be ready, and to train, train, train. So keep with it. In any case, welcome to the forum and good luck finding a good school. BTW, where are you stationed? I'm sure someone here can recommend a good place to train.

sdstories, I have a hard time believing that this is true. You posted this and the Paris subway story. Maybe they are and maybe they aren't, but it just seems strange. Anyway, in this case, being drunk was poor judgement IMHO, and not something that a martial artist should do. In this story the guy was lucky. Poor judgement allowed the attackers to get close. Poor judgement resulted in him getting trapped. Poor judgement resulted in him having to fight. Not a good example IMHO. But one point is good. If you have to think once you're forced to fight your in a lot of trouble. Your training should take over and you should be pretty much on autopilot to attacks. So with all of that said, true or not. The story can teach us a few things.

I would say that my loyalty is to myself and to my family and friends. Now Uechi has several different groups that have broken off and come back, and broken off and come back. etc. We're sort of like a big family. So in my case, I try and stay out of it and be friendly with everyone if that makes any sense. I really despise politics and always try and learn from everyone.

I'll second Shureido. I love mine and am currently saving up to order another one.

I could see 20 years ago, but not now. TKD is so big, it's almost the other way around. I've seen martial arts classes at rec centers where people say things like "Look at the TKD class". The sad thing was the class was either Judo, Karate, or another art and clearly not TKD.

Long enough to know that I need to study a lot more. Short enough to know I have a long way to go. And just right for where I am. In other words, it really doesn't matter. I have enough experience to teach what I know, and not so much that I can consider myself very accomplished, but I also know that I can hold my own if I needed to defend myself or someone else.

That's so true. It's kind of funny when you think about it. Some arts are big on the stripe thing. A friend of mine trained at a McDojo. The owner had a whole bunch of stripes I think it was 5 or 6. (nothing wrong with this) But the guy was only 30 or so. IMHO not really old enough to be that high ranking. While some very senior Uechi folks "only" have a stripe or two and are 6 or 7 Dan.